PM to push Merkel on PKK in Germany

ANKARA

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Erdoğan and Chancellor Angela Merkel will also talk about Turkey’s EU accession process. AFP photo

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will again inform Chancellor Angela Merkel about the activities of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Germany during their meeting today.

“Germany has a key place in the terrorist organization’s structure in Europe. There are so many different affiliations of the terror organization under different names. They have financial resources and send money to the terror organization,” Erdoğan told reporters at a press conference before he departed for Berlin yesterday.

Erdoğan is set to open Turkey’s new embassy in the German capital and will also meet with nongovernmental organizations.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and European Union Minister Egemen Bağış will both accompany Erdoğan.

Erdoğan said he had previously given Merkel documents about these affiliated groups’ activities, and the chancellor had informed him that there were some 4,000 court cases against these associations. Erdoğan said it was easy for the terror organization to meet and continue its illegal acts in Germany. “I will find the chance to share this with the chancellor.”

Erdoğan will also bring up the issue of visa liberalization for Turks.

“While there have been positive developments with regard to the visa issue, there is still no visa exemption for Turks, even though this has been granted to some countries that have nothing to do with the European Union,” Erdoğan said, referring to the EU’s move toward visa-free travel for Armenians.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Erdoğan and Chancellor Angela Merkel will also talk about Turkey’s EU accession process.

Turkey and Germany will celebrate their 250th year of diplomatic relations in 2013. Germany is home to nearly 3 million Turks, and the two countries share 32 billion euros in trade volume.